Denver Woman Accused Of Faking PTSD To Skip Jury Duty

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Colorado woman who posed as mentally unstable to avoid jury duty, reported Reuters.The woman, Susan Cole, 57, was charged on Thursday for first degree perjury and attempting to influence a public servant during jury selection last June. Cole called into Denver's Dave Logan Show during a session on ways to avoid jury session last October.

I put black eyebrows on, red lipstick on, left my hair in curlers and wore a tee shirt that read 'Ask Me About My Best Seller, Cole allegedly told the station, under the name Char from Denver. I put my lipstick on like someone who really didn't know how to put lipstick on.

Cole reportedly told the prosecutors that she had been homeless, a victim of domestic violence and post-traumatic stress disorder from being in the military. Denver District Court Judge Anne Mansfield, who was presiding over the case, excused her from participating in the jury.

For about two weeks after when my roommate and I would think about it, or I would tell my clients about it, we would cry; we would laugh so hard, Cole, a published author and cosmetologist said on the radio show.

Among other details in an affidavit for Cole's arrest, Cole also claimed that she was going through an emotionally draining experience that particular morning because her cousin had been in a fatal motorcycle accident, reported the Denver Post. While Cole bragged about how she wove the story to fend off days of jury duty, Judge Mansfield coincidentally tuned into to the radio show, and recognized details from Cole's story.

According to the affidavit, investigators asked Cole to produce proof that she in fact had been diagnosed with PTSD, but she offered them a copy of her book instead, Seven Initiations with El-Way's Secrets, written under her pen name Char Cole. The book is about overcoming difficult relationships and situations through the books of Genesis to Revelations in the Bible, and reportedly also contains details of her struggle with domestic abuse.

It moves from just being a serious civic responsibility to a potential criminal matter because potential jurors have taken an oath to answer questions from the judge and attorneys truthfully, Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney's Office told the Denver Post about Cole's upcoming case.

I am embarrassed I did it, Cole told Denver NBC affiliate KUSA News in an interview. I didn't mean to harm the judge. I really felt bad she interpreted this. I just think: 'What if I go to prison over this?'